Pocketed ball game



July 21, 1964 D. c. sco'rT 3,141,673

FOCKETED BALL GAME Filed Nov. 26, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR DAVID C. SCOTT ATTORNEY July 21, 1964 D. c. sco'rr POCKETED BALL cm:

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Nov. 26, 1962 FIG. 3

INVENTOR DAVID C. SCOTT FIG. 5

ATTORNEY United States Patent Ofiice 3,141,673 Patented July 21, 1964 3,141,673 POCKETEI) BALL GAME David C. Scott, R0. Box 250, Gagnon, Quebec, Canada Filed Nov. 26, 1962, Ser. No. 239,963 13 Claims. (Cl. 273-123) This invention relates to a game wherein a ball is impelled along a playing surface toward desired locations.

It is an object of the invention to provide a game of the indoor variety wherein a tensioned string is mounted on a frame supplied with a playing surface for balls and characterized in that said string functions in a manner similar to the cushion on a billiard or snooker table. In a game apparatus comprising such string, a ball may be impelled by a cue, manually or otherwise, to follow a predetermined path to impinge upon the string and to rebound therefrom to follow a path determined by the force and direction of the ball, its angle of incidence to the string, and the tension of the string. Scoring in the play of the game is achieved by shooting balls into pockets remotely disposed with respect to the string and an angle to the string. The term string is intended to include filaments, musical strings, piano wire, and the like, which may be placed in tension and may receive and rebound from the impact of the ball of the billiard type rolling on a surface, without breaking.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a game to be played with a ball and providing a resilient barrier for the path of the ball formed by a stretched string, and wherein such string may have its tension varied, and is preferably selected from the types which form musical sounds or notes. Thus a player may tune the string to the tension desired for a shot or a series of shots, using a tuning fork, another stretched string, a musical instrument or his ear, to attain the desired degree of tuning.

The invention provides for use with a board game involving the movement of a ball rolling on a playing surface, a frame having at least two spaced supports for a string extending therebetween, at a ball-deflecting height, and tensioned to resiliently alter the course of a ball impinging thereon.

In a preferred form of the invention the tensioned string is selected from the type which will emit a musical note when struck or plucked.

In the drawings, which illustrate a preferred embodiment of the invention:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the frame;

FIG. 2 is a view along the lines 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a view along the lines 33 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary View showing a ball impinging upon a string in tension; and

FIG. 5 is a cross section taken along the lines 55 of FIG. 1.

From the drawings it will be seen that the invention is used for playing a game where the fortunes of the player are determined by the movements of a ball upon a surface 12. The playing surface 12 may be supplied by a sheet of felt or any other suitable material such as billiard cloth, on a suitable base. A table top may constitute a base, but a sheet of plywood could also be used. The ball might be impelled in any of a number of ways but in the preferred embodiment would be shot by a cue 14.

In accord with the invention there is provided a frame 16 preferably shaped to form two sides and an end of a rectangle and intended to be placed on the playing surface 12 and providing the side members 18 and the end member 20, and confining movements of the ball 10. The frame 16 constitutes a game board of a generally U-shaped configuration.

The two sides 18 are each channels of an inverted U-shape in cross section (see FIG. 5), with a width in plan view tapering from the closed to the open end of the frame 16. The hollow sides 18 of the frame thus form resonant chambers. The inner walls 22 of each side 18 have at their inner ends a short section 23 provided with a plurality of apertures 24 each designed to receive a ball 10 rolling on the said surface. Apertures 24 individually lead into pockets 25 which are open at the top for removal of balls. On each side member 18 a bridge 26 for a stretched string 28 is located and spaced inwardly of the respective inner wall 22 adjacent to open end of frame 16. A second bridge 26 is also located on each side member 18 adjacent to said apertures 24. The string 28 is supported by said bridges 26 and 26' in spaced relation to, but outwardly of each nearest inner wall 22, and string 28 is attached at one end to the respective inner wall 22 as at 30 and at the other end is preferably attached to a tension-varying member generally denoted at 31. In the preferred embodiment the tension-varying member comprises a shank 32 rotatably mounted upon the respective inner side wall 22 to project inwardly from the frame, and on which an end of the string 28 is wound. The outer projection of shank 32 is a worm gear 34. A vertical and rotatable worm 36 is provided to mesh with the worm gear 34 and has a handle 38 similar to an ordinary thumb screw for easy manual control of the string tension. Such a tensioning device is well known in the art of musical instruments of the kind having strings.

The end member 20 of the frame is rigidly attached at each extremity to the adjacent end of the frame sides 18. Such attachment is, for convenience of storing and shipping, preferably detachable and the preferred attachment is effected by bolts 40 passing through a wall of side member 18, and through the end wall member 20, and secured by easily removable wing nuts 42. The end member 20 may be of a cross section that will impart strength to it.

The end member 20 is provided on its inner side with a plurality of cubicles or pockets 44, each with an inwardlyopening aperture 46 of a size to receive a ball 10 rolling on the playing surface 12.

The object of the game, in the preferred embodiment, is to play the ball 10 into one of the apertures 24 or 46 by means of the cue 14, by causing the ball It to rebound off the tensed string 28. Thus the frame and string supports are designed so that the ball 10, rolling on the surface 12, will meet the string 28 at about one-half the height of the ball 10, so that the ball 10 will not tend to rise over or wedge under the string. The direction of roll of the ball 10 after impact will be determined by the rate of roll, the angle of the incidence, and the tension of the string 28. The tension of the string 28 may be varied by adjustment of thumb screw 38 to vary the angle of rebound.

The string 28 is preferably of the type used in pianos (piano wire) or stringed instruments to emit a musical note when plucked or struck. The degree of tension of the string 28 is evidenced by the note emitted, and the desired tautness of the string 28 may be attained by a tuning fork, musical instrument or the ear, or alternately the two opposed strings 28 may be tuned to each other. Thus by adjustment of the tension a player may increase his chances of playing a rebound from the string 28 in a given pocket from a given location on the board. The side members 18 act as resonant chambers for the respective strings.

The inverted U-shaped side members 18 are preferably constructed of wood and serve as sounding boxes.

For scoring purposes the ball-receiving holes 24 and 46 are suitably numbered as indicated in FIGS. 2 and 3..

3 Desirably the numbers applied to the holes 24 in the vertical inner wall 22 of one of the side frame members 18, respectively correspond to the numbers applied to the holes 24 in the opposite inner wall of the other side frame member 18. Obviously other indicia may be employed to distinguish the baILreceiving holes for scoring purposes.

From the preceding description it will be manifest that my invention provides an entertaining game requiring skill and judgment on the part of the players. The game board may be readily taken apart for storage and compactly stowed away in a box or other container. The felt pad 12 or other material used to provide the playing surface, may be folded and stored along with the dismantled frame parts and the other playing elements of the game. Desirably the game will be played with eight red and one white ball, and in accordance with adopted rules of play. It is possible by tuning the wires (strings 28), to deflect a ball into any pocket without having to carom it off another ball. If a wire is maintained at one tension or tuning, it is possible, by striking it at the same place each time with the same delivery force of a ball or cue weight, to repeat shots. By the provision of further bolt-receiving holes in the end member 20 it is possible to reduce the width of the game board. Further changes and modifications may be made within the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A game apparatus for use with a ball, comprising a frame having at least one side member with an inner face upstanding from a playing surface on which the frame is supported and a ball is propelled, a tensioned string extending along said inner face and spaced outwardly therefrom parallel to said playing surface, means on said frame providing a ball-receiving pocket spaced from said tensioned string and having an aperture disposed to admit into said pocket a ball deflected by said tensioned string in play of the game, said side member including a resonant chamber for tuning of said string to a desired pitch.

2. A game apparatus as defined in claim 1, in which means are provided to vary the tension of the string.

3. A game apparatus as defined in claim 1, in which supports are mounted on said side member near the ends of said string to space said string outwardly from said inner face, and in which one end of said string is fixed to said side member and the other end thereof is secured to a tensioning device.

4. The structure of claim 1, said side member including a portion forming one side of said resonant chamber.

5. The structure of claim 1, said frame comprising a U-shape when horizontally disposed on a playing surface.

6. The structure of claim 1, wherein one of said walls provides said inner face, and wherein said pocket is disposed at an attitude with respect to said string such that its aperture may admit a propelled ball deflected at a certain angle off said string.

7. The structure of claim 1, wherein a plurality of pockets are provided and arranged in a row with assigned different scoring values.

8. The structure of claim 1, wherein a second similar and oppositely disposed side member is provided which, together with the first mentioned side member, define between them a playing area for the ball on said playing surface, said side members having outer and inner ends, and there being a tensioned string extending along the inner face of said second side member and spaced therefrom, said frame being open between said outerends of said side members to permit the use of a cue as a means of propelling a ball, and there being a plurality of ballreceiving pockets in the vicinity of said inner ends.

9. The structure of claim 8, wherein there is provided a row of pockets included as a part of the inner end of each side member, said pockets having ball-admitting apertures in said inner face of the side member rear- Wardly of said tensioned string.

10. The structure of claim 8, said frame including an end member extending between the inner ends of said side members and having an inner face upstanding from the playing surface.

11. The structure of claim 1, wherein a second similar and oppositely disposed side member is provided which, together with the first mentioned side member, define between them a playing area for the ball on said playing surface, said side members having outer and inner ends, and there being a tensioned string extend ng along the inner face of said second side member and spaced therefrom, said frame being open between said outer ends of said side members to permit the use of a cue as a means of propelling a ball, and an inner end member extending between the inner ends of said side members and having an inner face upstading from the playing surface, and means detachably securing said inner frame member to the inner ends of said side members.

12. The structure of claim 11, said inner frame member having ball-receiving pockets disposed inwardly thereof each receptive to a ball played along said playing surface.

13. The structure of claim 11, wherein ball-receiving pockets are provided on the inner ends of said side members, and wherein an inner end member extends between the inner ends of said side members and has ball-receiving pockets.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 229,625 Mathewson July 6, 1880 685,596 Genter et al. Oct. 29, 1901 704,892 Lowerre July 15, 1902 FOREIGN PATENTS 495,157 Great Britain Nov. 8, 1938 

1. A GAME APPARATUS FOR USE WITH A BALL, COMPRISING A FRAME HAVING AT LEAST ONE SIDE MEMBER WITH AN INNER FACE UPSTANDING FROM A PLAYING SURFACE ON WHICH THE FRAME IS SUPPORTED AND A BALL IS PROPELLED, A TENSIONED STRING EXTENDING ALONG SAID INNER FACE AND SPACED OUTWARDLY THEREFROM PARALLEL TO SAID PLAYING SURFACE, MEANS ON SAID FRAME PROVIDING A BALL-RECEIVING POCKET SPACED FROM SAID TENSIONED STRING AND HAVING AN APERTURE DISPOSED TO ADMIT INTO SAID POCKET A BALL DEFLECTED BY SAID TENSIONED STRING IN PLAY OF THE GAME, SAID SIDE MEMBER INCLUDING A RESONANT CHAMBER FOR TUNING OF SAID STRING TO A DESIRED PITCH. 